Dusty Ratcliff

read on another site that a banks ottomind computer, was a rebadged TST box??? never heard of this before, the post was about running bigger sticks & a different turbo w/banks products, I have seen this done & it worked really well, I get so sick of people bashing banks products, I've had great luck with the few pieces I've had, granted haven't had alot of experience with any of the electronics, but otherwise I like their stuff & as we all know any electronically controlled stuff has its problems. I agree that there products are a little pricey, but so is diesel fuel right now & we still buy it?? I like the fact that for the most part they make safe reliable power, even though you can buy a more powerful product a little cheaper that can & will(if you let it) melt your engine/tranny/clutch. This is just my opinion, & I'm sorry for all of you who have had problems w/banks products, I know it happens, just as it does with all other products. but back to my original ? is there any truth to the rebadged TST statement???? just curious, Dusty

TxDiesel007

be honest with you completely

BANKS power.. Too much money, not enough bang.. I know i run remnants of their powerpack... you can do so much more, especially to a 12V and spend less money, than what banks has to offer. Its an awesome setup for towing and staying within your vehicles limits so to say, safely and for liability reasons. BUT you can do more..

Tx

Dusty Ratcliff

agreed 100%, that's kinda the way I feel about it, you definately can get more for less, but peace of mind is worth alot of $ to some people. I see your point about their 12V power, it's not the greatest, but once again it's safe & reliable, I had a plate out of a powerpack that went on a 96' the hottest plate at the time that they sold (not sure about now??) & it wasn't even as hot as a #11 according to the man at banks who designed it, he pulled the cad drawings that he made of it & even told me what year month & day he designed it. But to say the least it was weak, gave decent low end, with cool egt's & little to no smoke, not horrible to pull with but not a racer either. I love my exhaust & the 14cm turbo though, the turbo really helped w/egt's & smoke( more so than I expected anyway ) now I need a clutch just my 0.02, Dusty

95ram

Is it safe and reliable? I know a guy that had banks. Had all them "peace of mind" safety features. He ended up melting down the number 6 piston. The banks safety features were supposed to start defueling when egt's go to hot. I dont think it's just banks I think it can happen with any box. The so called safety features are a load of crap.

displacedtexan

FWIW-

I HATE Banks, not beacuse of their products, they are great, if over-priced.

Gale is a cocky jerk. I have read articles where he talks about eveyone wanting smoke is an idiot and jack*** (his word) He thinks he is the only name in the diesel power game. He makes good products, but he is certianly the be all/end all he seems to think he is.

I don't want to rant, but had to say something...

Dusty Ratcliff

95 Ram, like I said everybody's gonna have problems, out of all the trucks around here running banks products, your friends truck is the only one I've ever heard of having a major problem, & if it was just # 6 couldn't it have been injector related?? or something other than the banks products?? I know nobody's perfect, but I was speaking as a whole, my cousin had an 02' that broke a wrist pin at less than 20,000 miles for no apparent reason as at all the only mods were a set of RV275's & a factory jacobs exhaust brake??? **** happens. & we all know it, but like I said I just don't think the banks products are as crappy as they are made out to be sometimes, they just aren't as aggressive as others, but otherwise I think they're alright, once again this is just my opinion based upon my real life experiences with Banks products. Dusty

one54ton

Overpriced and overrated I think. I have never heard of anyone with banks products be too happy. Seems like once they hear about Edge ot TST, their banks crap is for sale. I love to see "banks power" tags of the side of trucks, I blow smoke on them all day.

infidel

Banks doesn't make as much power because they are the only ones that guarantee to keep your truck emissions legal in all 50 states.
If it ever came to the point where smog laws were enforced a lot of folks would be in a world of hurt or forced to become deceivious by removing their mods just for a smog check.

mkubacak

Could have been a problem with the thermocouple. If the Pyro is reading a little low, you could easily melt a piston. Especially number six.

Gotlift01

Banks back in the day was the thing to have if you had a diesel. Everybody who was anybody had banks on their trucks. These days they are kind of out dated and these new companies are making more power for less money. Banks is a decent product I think, but they just don't seem to step to the table like EDGE, TST,.......... I don't try to bash anything that I haven't owned personally so this is just an observation of what I have seen.

And like stated above, they are the only ones that I know of that is 50 state emission legal...........less smoke usually means less power ( well in most cases anyway ) I think if they want to get back into competing with these new companies, they need to scrap the emission legal crap, lower their prices some, and start pumping out some more power and get back there reputation.

Just my $.02

~Nick

jon96ctd

well we own two trucks with banks stuff on it so i've got room to talk. dad bought the pwr pack for the 91 and i bought my 96 with the stinger plus on it. i can't speak for the boxes but i know that i'm trying to get rid of just about everything banks on my truck except for the exhaust housing. it worked well, better than stock and the system did exactly what they said it'd do. I'm glad it was on the truck, better than stock. I would not buy that system myself, I'd get my own stuff plus a 3 piece manifold for the co$t of the banks system.
even with the piers hybrid Hx35/40 turbo I can still get the EGT's hot enough to melt my pistons. the "big" exhaust system sucks, it's a muffler-back system. the air filter sucks, it's a cotton-element that leaves light dirt on the filtered side of the filter housing and hose and even when clean the filter-minder indicates 3/4 of the way to the redline, need way more air and need it completely filtered. not sure about the torque plate, looking into changing that as well.

btw, why would you NOT want to get "more for less"??? what 'safety' features are you looking for for a 2nd gen 24v? you've got to get at least an EGT guage and trans temp guage(assuming an auto). if someone can't make the connection between the EGT/trans temp and their right foot they should not be turning up their diesel truck, or even driving one for that matter.

banks is not a bad system, don't get me wrong. but call up any of the advertisers from this site and tell them the power you want, there's not that much "guesswork" in putting some mods together and any of the perf shops will be able to help you. i don't like wasting my money on something to get that "warm fuzzy feeling" that i've got a namebrand something in my truck.

just my opinion.

cummnz4x4pwr

I agree with the displaced texan on MISTER ******* figgin banks and another arrogant SOB is THE DOC and i think we all no whom im talkin bout the words straight from his mouth in stephenville tx was that and I quote "Edge stole my design for the Comp and ez modules" I cant stand arrogance.

MadDog01

Banks say's that they will pass smog!! But they wouldn't in Ca. They wouldn't be able to pass the particulet test. This test is a volentary test that my company does and gets credits from the state. We have stock trucks, Fords and they just barely pass. More fuel, failed test!!!

Gary

Dr. Evil

Tell us how you REALLY feel...






Yeah, I think the same way too

CTD_Neil

Just say 'NO' to Gale Banks! see my sig.